Umai Crate August 2018 Review

This month’s Umai Crate booklet lists each of the ramen bowls with a small description and cooking instructions. This is always super helpful to review before and during taste testing! As usual, there is always a super fun recipe for cold tempura somen.

Time to get cooking!

Daikoku Kitsune Udon

This bowl was very classic with a strong chicken flavor along with strong hints of salt. The noodles were thick and creamy. On top, there is a fried tofu fillet that always seems to get a bit too chewy for my liking, but my husband always loves that part of the bowl. This is a great dish to simply add some spices or hot sauce too and enjoy for a quick and easy lunch!

Kumamoto Spicy Ramen

I knew once I started making this bowl that my husband was going to gobble it down, which I was absolutely right about! The noodles were a bit longer and extra sticky making them extra filling. The broth was so bold and spicy with layers of flavors that were perfect to enjoy on a cold fall evening. The broth is made with red chili paste, a salty paste made from broad beans, soybeans, salt, rice, and togarashi peppers. My husband ate this as is, but we both agreed that it would be great with shrimp.

Mazetsuyu Cold Sudachi Sauce, Multi-Pack

This little pouch comes with multiple sauce packets inside! The sauce can be served hot or cold, but the information booklet says that it traditionally is served hot so that is how I cooked it this month. I used this sauce with my somen noodles below. The sauce itself is very fruity and somewhat sour. I thought the flavors were a bit overpowering, but my husband thought the flavors were very refreshing!

Mendokoro Somen, Multi-Pack

This pack of somen is filled with three sets of noodles that you can use all in different ways. The booklet says that cold somen is usually served with a light soy based dipping sauce. Since I had the sudachi sauce, that is what I used for this first batch of noodles. The noodles themselves were a bit sticky which isn’t always my favorite, but my husband said that this was his favorite combination of the month!

Onion Soy Sauce Ramen

I thought this was going to be a super salty bowl, but instead, I was met with a strong onion flavored broth that had a light hint of soy sauce as well. To my surprise though, I didn’t get too much salt flavors in this. Just a very strong onion flavor, so if you don’t like onions I would pass this packet along to a friend. The noodles were light and fluffy, soaking in all of that yummy broth. I could see this being perfect with chicken, red pepper flakes, and a hard-boiled egg.

Tanuki Soba

This bowl is topped with tons of crunchy fried tempura batter. They honestly did a snap, crackle, pop as I poured my hot water over them! The noodles were fluffy that paired perfectly with the huge crunch that you get in each bite from the tempura. The broth had a hint of onion flavor to it and a very light bit of salt. I loved this little to-go cup so much!

Tororo Konbu Somen

This bowl is topped with tororo konbu which are thin and very long pieces of dried seaweed. Unfortunately, I did not love this bowl due to that topping of seaweed. The flavors were very strong with earthy notes and overall had a slimy texture. The noodles were skinny and light.

Yamaimo Soba

This bowl was so unique! It had a smokey flavor to it mixed with a stronger fish flavor similar to tuna. The broth itself had a lovely hint of salt that was perfect to cut through the fish taste. The noodles were crunchy and super filling.

Ramen Pepper

This pepper blend is made especially for bowls of ramen! However, the main ingredients are garlic and pepper so you can really use it on just about anything. I am going to be using this for seasoning homemade soups or meats that we prepare on the grill.

Bonus Item – Squirrel Rice Paddle

The bonus item for the month is this rice paddle. I make so many rice dishes which makes this the perfect item to add to my kitchen utensils!

Verdict: This month’s Umai Crate was a wonderful blend of unique flavors mixed with more traditional bowls. I was also very happy to see that we received a few extra items in the multi-packs of noodles, sauce, and the ramen pepper! This really brought the value up for me which is great since the box is $30 a month now. Plus, you can’t beat the overall curation offering so many unique bowls that are going to last you through lunches and dinners!

To Wrap Up:

Can I still get this box if I sign up today? No, you will receive the October box.

Taryn’s passion for subscription boxes started when she was gifted a monthly Birchbox. She is excited to discover more Mom and baby boxes to share with her family!

All views in this review are the opinion of the author. My Subscription Addiction will never accept payment in exchange for a review, but will accept a box at no cost to provide honest opinions on the box. This post may contain affiliate/referral links. If you buy something, MSA may earn an affiliate commission. Read the complete My Subscription Addiction disclosure.